Saturday, October 11, 2008

Lai Meng Chong is a Malaysian politician of from the town of Machap Baru in Malacca state. He is a member of the Malaysian Chinese Association , a major component party of the ruling Barisan Nasional coalition and holds the position of vice-chairman in the MCA's Alor Gajah division. Lai is also the political secretary to the Malaysian Minister of Human Resources, MCA vice-president and for Alor Gajah, . He was nominated as the BN's candidate in the .

Huang Huahua is currently the Governor of Guangdong, a southern province of China.

Huang was born in Xingning, Guangdong in October 1946 and graduate of mathematics at Zhongshan University.

From 1970 to 1978, Huang worked at Machinery Factory of the Guangdong Coal Mine, joined the Communist Party in 1971 and served as deputy secretary of the workshop Party Branch. He was later promoted to secretary of the Communist Youth League of China Shaoguan Municipal Committee.

Huang was deputy secretary of CYLC provincial committee from 1982to 1985 and then as secretary of CYLC provincial committee from 1985-1987.

Prior to become mayor of Meixian, Huang served as deputy secretary of the CPC Meixian Prefectural Committee.

He was Mayor of Meizhou and subsequently the CPC party chief in Guangzhou.

He was famous for supporting reforms toward capitalism, free markets, and liberalization in China.

A day after his death, a small scale protest mourned for him. A week later, the day before Hu's funeral, some 100,000 students marched on Tiananmen square, leading to the Tiananmen Square protests of 1989.

Early years

Hu Yaobang joined the communist revolution at an early age as a young teenager and as a supporter of Mao Zedong. He was persecuted many times by the communist cadres of the faction returning from the former-Soviet Union, who controlled the communist leadership and had the real power. Once Mao Zedong was removed from power for good shortly before the beginning of the Fourth Encirclement Campaign, his supporters were persecuted once again, and Hu Yaobang was sentenced to death. Just before the beginning of the Long March, he and others were on their way to be beheaded. However, a powerful local communist commander named Tan Yubao intervened at the last minute, saving Hu's life, but because of Hu's support of Mao, he was deemed as unreliable and ordered to join the Long March so that he could be placed under surveillance.
Despite distrust from top leadership, Hu remained loyal to the communist cause and attempted to prove himself at every opportunity when fighting their nationalist enemy. Hu Yaobang was seriously wounded at the Campaign of Xiang River, where the Chinese Red Army was disastrously defeated. However, the communist field medic teams chose not to help Hu and left him in the battlefield to die on the side of the road. Luck was on Hu's side when a childhood friend of his, a Chinese Red Army commander, happened to pass by. Hu called out his friend's nickname to ask for help, and the friend helped him to catch up with the retreating main force of the Chinese Red Army and get treatment for his wounds.

Hu Yaobang's luck seemed to have run out after the Long March when he was forced to march with the communist leader Zhang Guotao's 21,800+ strong forces to cross the Yellow River in a futile attempt to expand the communist base westward in Shaanxi and to link up with the former Soviet Union, or at least with Xinjiang, which was controlled by the warlord Sheng Shicai, an ally of the communists and the former Soviet Union. Zhang Guotao's forces were soundly defeated by the local nationalist warlords, the Ma clique. Hu Yaobang, along with Qin Jiwei, became two of the thousands of prisoners-of-war captured by Ma clique's forces. Hu was one of only 1,500 prisoners-of-war whom Ma Bufang decided to use as forced labor rather than execute. As Chiang Kai-shek pressured Ma Bufang to contribute more of his troops to fight invaders, Ma Bufang decided that instead of using his own troops, he would instead send the 1,500 Chinese Red Army prisoners-of-war as conscripts. Since the marching route had to pass the border of the communist base in Shaanxi, Hu Yaobang and Qin Jiwei seized this opportunity to return to the communists and organize a planned escape in secrecy. The escape took place as planned and was a success: out of the total , more than 1,300 had successfully returned to Yan'an. Mao Zedong personally welcomed these returning communists and Hu Yaobang was once again back in the communist camp, where he would remain for rest of his life. However, the political persecution continued, and from the very communist leader Hu Yaobang once firmly supported.

Reformer

As Deng Xiaoping gradually regained control over the CPC, Deng's rival Hua Guofeng was replaced by Zhao Ziyang as Premier of the State Council in 1980, and by Hu Yaobang as Party Chairman in 1981. Hu was also made General Secretary of the Communist Party of China in 1980 but, until the mid-1990s, it was Deng who was calling the shots although his only official title was that of chairman of the Communist Party's Central Military Commission.

During his time in office, Hu tried to rehabilitate the people who were persecuted during the Cultural Revolution. Many Chinese people think that this was his most important achievement. He was also in favor of a pragmatic policy in Tibet, ordering the withdrawal of thousands of Chinese Han cadres from the Tibet Autonomous Region following a 1980 visit to the region, believing that Tibetans should be empowered to administer their own affairs.

Although Hu was a dedicated reformer and one of Deng Xiaoping's most important associates, he was later forced to resign in 1987 from his post as General Secretary; leaving officially on 16 January. Deng forced Hu to resign on the heels of a series of student demonstrations in late 1986, believed by the hardliners as a consequence of Hu's tolerance of and perhaps his empathetic attitude towards China's liberal intelligentsia, who were pushing for more political freedom and reform. He was also accused of "making mistakes in Sino-Japanese relations".

Death and the Tiananmen protests

Hu Yaobang died due to a two years later at a Party Political Bureau meeting on 15 April 1989. In his death announcement, he was described as: "Comrade Hu Yaobang was a long-tested and staunch communist warrior, a great proletarian revolutionist and statesman, an outstanding political leader for the Chinese army". Although he was a "retired" official who had made "mistakes", public pressure forced the to accord him a State Funeral attended by party leaders, and a eulogy which praised his work in restoring political norm and promoting economic development after the Cultural Revolution.

However, many people were dissatisfied with the party's slow response and relatively subdued funerary arrangements. Public mourning began on the streets of Beijing and elsewhere. In Beijing this was centred on the Monument to the People's Heroes in Tiananmen Square. The mourning became a public conduit for anger against perceived nepotism in the government, the unfair dismissal and early death of Hu, and the behind-the-scenes role of the "old men", officially retired leaders who nevertheless maintained quasi-legal power, such as Deng Xiaoping. Protests eventually escalated into the Tiananmen Square protests of 1989. Hu's ideas of freedom of speech and freedom of press in 1986 greatly influenced the students participating in the protests.

After Hu's funeral, his body was . There are reports that initially his widow wanted his ashes to be buried in his home town of Liuyang. However, the local leaders hesitated to accept such a controversial bequest, and he was eventually buried at Gongqing Cheng .

Possible rehabilitation

Despite the highly favorable official evaluation of Hu by the PRC government, the media was muted, and his name was not mentioned publicly after 1989. Printed media which commemorated the anniversary of his death in 1994 were withdrawn from publication.

Plans to rehabilitate Hu Yaobang were reported in the ''Washington Post'' 9 September 2005. Based on Chinese sources, the article "China Plans To Honor A Reformer" reported planning for events on 20 November, the 90th anniversary of his birth. An official biography and a collection of his writings were slated for release. The biography is a source of controversy as there is a three volume biography written by former aides to Hu Yaobang which remains unpublished and has been taken into the control of the government. A memorial was planned in Hunan where he was born. While viewed by some observers as a possible preliminary step to re-evaluation of the Tiananmen Square protests of 1989, such a move continues to be rejected.

On 18 November 2005, The Communist Party officially celebrated the 90th anniversary of Hu Yaobang's birth , with activities at the People's Hall.

Although magazines publishing commemorative articles were initially stopped from being released, the ban was lifted and these magazines were publicly issued.

This was the first time since his death that Hu's name appeared publicly. It has been suggested that he will be "rehabilitated", giving hope that the Tiananmen Square Protests might be re-evaluated by the CPC.

Memorials in recognition of the date of someone's birth or death are often signs of political trends within China, with some pointing to the prospect of further reform. This is countered however by other recent statements from the Party that it should learn from the ideologies of Cuba and North Korea.

Some political analysts have argued that the current administration under President Hu Jintao wishes to associate itself with the popular Hu Yaobang. Both rose to power through the Communist Youth League, and are described as part of the same "Youth League Clique". Hu Yaobang was also responsible for promoting Hu Jintao to the central office.

Hu Tsu Tau, Richard is a former Singaporean politician. He served as Minister of Finance from 1985- 2001 and is affiliated to the People's Action Party. He is currently the Chairman of the Singaporean property development company Capitaland.

Hu is married to Irene Tan Dee Leng, and has one son and one daughter . He is a Hakka Chinese.

Hsu Hsin-liang is a politician, formerly Chairman of the Democratic Progressive Party, but now a supporter of the Pan-Blue Coalition.

Biography

Born in Taoyuan County, Taiwan, Hsu attended now the Hsinchu Senior High School and received his bachelor's degree in Political Science from the National Chengchi University in 1967 and his KMT-sponsored master's degree from the University of Edinburgh in 1969. He began his political career in the Kuomintang as a member of the Taiwan Provincial Assembly from 1973 to 1977, but broke ranks in 1977 when he ran and won as an independent in the election for Magistrate of Taoyuan County.

Deeply involved in the Kaohsiung Incident, Hsu was forced into exile in the United States in 1979. In 1986, he tried to return to Taiwan but was turned back upon arriving at the Chiang Kai-shek International Airport. Three years later he was arrested while slipping into Taiwan aboard a mainland Chinese fishing boat and was jailed for sedition until being pardoned in 1990.

He later joined the Democratic Progressive Party and served as its Chairman twice, from 1991 to 1993 and 1996 to 1998. He attempted to transform the party from a radical pro-Taiwan independence party to a more moderate and electable political group that no longer supported immediate independence. Having failed twice in gaining DPP support for his presidential bid, first in 1996 when he lost the party primary to Peng Ming-Min and second in 1999 when the party threw its support behind the widely popular former mayor of Taipei City, Chen Shui-Bian, Hsu decided to withdraw from the DPP in 1999.

Hsu ran in the as an independent with legislator Chu Hui-liang as his running mate. During the campaign, he promoted unification based on 'one country, two systems'. After the election Hsu became more critical of the Chen Shui-bian government and its various policies. Hsu believes that maintaining a good relationship with the People's Republic of China is vital for Taiwan's survival and growth, and there is no hurry to negotiate with mainland on political issues at the present. Instead, establishing a closer economic relationship across the will help Taiwan's economy.

Hsu publicly supported Lien Chen and James Soong in the . In March 2004, Hsu and a dozen other prominent politicians involved in the Tangwai movement published ''The Joint Declaration of the Tang Wai participants'', in which they reprimanded Chen Shui-bian of betraying the ideals of democracy and freedom that they once pursued. Criticising Chen of being "corrupted by power" and close with Lee Teng-hui and , Hsu and others urged voters who once supported DPP for its ideals not to vote for Chen, to give him a chance to "reflect on himself".

After the 2004 presidential election, Hsu, in protest of what he saw as an unfair election, arrived at Ketagalan Boulevard on the night of March 24 and staged a 3-day hunger strike. He believed firmly that Chen Shui-bian cheated in the election and thought he was now fighting for democracy, just like what he did two decades ago.

He founded the Taiwan Democratic School in July 2004 which is aimed at "promoting a new democratic movement to sustain Taiwan's young democracy." It has advocated unity within the Pan-Blue Alliance.

In December 2004 he made an unsuccessful run in the as an independent in the Taipei City South constituency. His platform opposed a NT$610.8 billion arms purchase from the U.S. and supported opening three direct links.

Howe Yoon Chong was a in the Cabinet of Singapore and a Member of Parliament for from 1979 to 1984. He was key in developing Singapore's infrastructural and financial framework, including the system, Singapore Changi Airport and public housing. In 1984, during his term as , in order to address issues raised by a greying population, he made the controversial proposal to raise the age for the withdrawal of Central Provident Fund savings from 55 to 60 years in order that Singaporeans might have more money to live on in their old age.

Howe, who graduated from the in 1953, also served as a senior , holding the posts of of the Housing and Development Board ; Chairman of the Port of Singapore Authority , Permanent Secretary in the 's Office and Head of the Singapore Civil Service ; Permanent Secretary of the and Ministry of National Development ; and Deputy Chairman of the Economic Development Board . In addition, he served as Chairman of the , and The Straits Holding Company .

Biography

Early life and education

Born in China in 1923 of Hakka origin, Howe Yoon Chong was the son of a liquor shop owner who migrated to Malacca, British Malaya. Howe received his early education at St. Francis Institution in Malacca from 1933 to 1940, and was once a schoolmate of Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew at Raffles Institution in Singapore. He graduated with a Bachelor of Arts with in Economics from the University of Malaya in Singapore in 1953.

Civil service career

Howe worked in the civil service for almost thirty years. He began his career as a teacher, then was a broadcaster for a period before taking the post of an administrative officer in the . Later, Howe was appointed as a and then secretary to Singapore's Public Service Commission.

In 1960, Howe became the first Chief Executive Officer of the Housing and Development Board . From 1970 to 1979, he was the Chairman and of the , the first Chairman of the Port of Singapore Authority , the Permanent Secretary in the 's Office, and the head of the Singapore Civil Service. From 1979 to 1982, Howe became the Permanent Secretary for the and the Ministry of National Development. He concurrently served as the Deputy Chairman of the Economic Development Board from 1979 to 1984.

During his tenure as a senior civil servant, Howe played a key role in several of Singapore's iconic infrastructural projects like the , Singapore Changi Airport and public housing.

Known by his civil service's colleagues as a fierce, tough-talking man, Howe debated vehemently with former Goh Keng Swee over whether to build the MRT system in Singapore. Howe was strongly in favour of the MRT as the backbone of , while Goh proposed a more economical all-bus alternative.

Howe fought strongly against the extension plans for a second runway at Paya Lebar Airport, and advocated the building of a new international airport in Changi. This was despite the Cabinet's decision for the go-ahead in 1972, based on a British expert's report that it would cost less to expand Paya Lebar Airport and that there was not enough time to get Changi built up to meet increasing traffic needs. Howe gathered a team to , widened and extended the old Royal Air Force airstrip to take Boeing 747s and build the terminal. In August 1981, operations stopped overnight at Paya Lebar Airport and restarted the next morning at Changi Airport. Howe's role in setting up Changi Airport won him credit in Lee Kuan Yew's memoirs.

Howe also fast-tracked the public housing programme while serving as the HDB's CEO under then-chairman Lim Kim San in the early years, solving the chronic housing shortage in the 1960s. As Chairman of PSA, now known as PSA Corporation, Howe went against the advice of professionals to build Singapore's first container terminal in the early 1970s.

Political career

Howe's first call to enter politics came as early as 1953 from Lee Kuan Yew, then a practising lawyer. and duly served as the Member of Parliament for the constituency until 1984.

On 12 February 1979, Howe was sworn into the Cabinet as . Directness being his hallmark, just six months after becoming Defence Minister Howe said that those who dodged ought to be looked upon as "pariah" in the community. which he chaired, was eventually dropped. However, the report that took 20 months to finalise remains an important document with its forward-looking strategies to support Singapore's . Taking up the suggestions in the report, the Singapore Government subsequently introduced the Minimum Sum scheme. This allows workers to withdraw some of their CPF funds at age 55, setting aside a certain minimum sum which can only be withdrawn at retirement age, currently at 62 years. To encourage the employment of aged workers, the CPF contribution rates for both employer and the aged employee were cut in July 1988. and from 1992 to 2007 the President and CEO for The Straits Holding Company, an investment . He was also Chairman of the and Rendezvous Hotels & Resorts International.

On 21 August 2007, Howe died in Singapore from a stroke after having been hospitalised for three weeks. Howe's funeral was held at Mandai Crematorium on 24 August.

Honours

In 1963, Howe received a Malaysia Medal and a ''Pingat Jasa Gemilang'' . For his contributions to Singapore, Howe was awarded a Distinguished Service Order in 1968. In 1971, the National University of Singapore awarded him with the honorary degree of Doctor of Letters .

Howe was also an Honorary Fellow of the Academy of Medicine, Singapore, and an Honorary Life Member of the Young Men's Christian Association of Singapore.

Personal life

Howe was married to Wan Fook Yin. They had three children – two sons, Tet Sen and Tze Sen, and a daughter, Hwee Siew – and two grandchildren.

Quotes

*''As a person, you would have like him. He was a very genuine man and I respected him for that. But I always remember him as a man who was not a politician. He spoke his mind. He did not sugar-coat.'' -- Former MP Tan Cheng Bock

*''I remember when he was MP for Potong Pasir, his voters came and asked him for all sorts of things. Some asked him to lower the CPF withdrawal age from 55 to 50. He scolded them: 'You all don't know what is good for you'. Somebody went to tell him he shouldn't scold his voters like that!'' -- Sim Kee Boon, on Howe when he first entered public service.

*''Yes means yes. No means no. But when he said yes, he would go out of his way to help his residents.'' -- Teo Chong Tee, MP for Changi from 1976 to 1996, on Howe's firm management style.

* 'He stood for honesty and integrity...If someone made a wrong decision but at all times had told the truth, he would say, 'That's okay.'' -- Ms Elsie Foh, managing director of DBS Bank on Howe when he was once chairman of DBS.

Hong Rengan was an important leader of the Taiping Rebellion. He was the cousin of the movement's founder and spiritual leader Hong Xiuquan. His position as the Prince Gan resembled the role of a Prime Minister. He is a noted figure in history because of the sweeping reforms attempted under his rule, and because of his popularity in the West.

When Hung Xiuquan called for his cousin Hong Rengan to come to Nanjing to help him rule, the Taiping administration was entrenched in a bitter power dispute. The powerbase of the movement had largely become split between the devout Taiping religious followers in Nanjing and the generals commanding the armies outside the city. Before his arrival, a previous power struggle erupted into a battle that killed over 20,000 Nanjing residents and a leader of the Taiping government. It was in this environment that Hong Rengan was given the second most important position in the Taiping movement; only Hung Xiuquan was more powerful.

Hong Rengan had been given his position because of his education. During the early years of the rebellion, he was separated from the rebellion and had to flee to Hong Kong, where he met the Swedish missionary Theodore Hamberg. Hong provided Hamberg with important information on the Taiping rebellion, which Hamberg later used to write a book about the movement. Hong came to Nanjing with a thoroughly Protestant mindset. This was in contrast to the largely Old Testament-dominated beliefs of the Taiping founders. Hong reformed the worship and prayer services into Protestant-style ceremonies. He also discouraged the use of the word "barbarian" to describe Westerners. These were a few of his early reforms.

However, most of Hong's energy was dedicated to centralizing the authority of Taiping administration and revitalizing its military successes. He advocated building railroads, gaining the support of Western powers, and building banks in the areas under Taiping rule. Because of his beliefs, Hong is sometimes noted as the first modern Chinese nationalist, and he was mentioned in early writings by both the Kuomintang and the Communist Party of China. These ideas, along with his clearly Protestant belief system, garnered the Taiping rebellion interest in Western circles. This interest would wane as Taiping troops moved closer to Shanghai and actively enforced their ban on opium within their realm.

Most of Hong Rengan's reforms were never implemented. Though he had shown strategic talent in the few campaigns he commanded, his ideas clashed with the pre-eminent military prince of the Taipings, Li Xiucheng. In a large mission to retake the upper Yangtze River, Li refused the orders of Hong and returned to Nanjing. The failure of this mission allowed Qing troops to mount a massive blockade of the Taiping area of control and eventually led to the collapse of the rebellion. Hong Rengan's rule was soon reduced to decrees endorsed by Hung Xiuquan, but they were never followed or enforced outside the city.

In 1864 Hong Xiuquan was found dead and the city of Nanjing soon fell to Qing forces. Hong Rengan and the other Taiping leaders fled the city and attempted to maintain their rule through the decrees of Hong Tianguifu, son of Hung Xiuquan. They were caught and sentenced to death. As seen in his confession before execution, Hong Rengan was the only prince of the Taiping rebellion to maintain his loyalty to the movement and never recant. He was executed on November 23, 1864, shortly after the execution of Hong Tianguifu and Li Xiucheng.

Hon Sui Sen was born in Penang in the British Straits Settlements. A Hakka, he was educated at Saint Xavier's Institution. Hon was top-placed in the 1932 Senior Cambridge Certificate Examination. In 1935, he commenced studies at Raffles College, Singapore, graduating in 1938 with a Class I Diploma in Science.

After graduation, Hon entered the Straits Settlements Civil Service as a Police Court Magistrate. Following this, he assumed responsibilities as a Deputy Collector of Land Revenue prior to the and Singapore. After the War, Hon remained with the Land Office and by 1957 had become Land Commissioner. In 1960, Hon was attached to the World Bank for an economic management course, where he met Albert Winsemius. Dr. Winsemius led the United Nations Survey Mission to Singapore in late 1960, and was to play a major role in the formulation of Singapore's national economic development strategy.

Hon returned to serve from 1961-1968 as the first Chairman of the Economic Development Board, or EDB, and then from 1968-1970 as Chairman of the Development Bank of Singapore, or DBS. He was also a council member of the Singapore Institute of Management from 1965 to 1968. Hon formally retired from the Civil Service in 1965, but his involvement in Singapore's economic development continued unabated. In 1970, Hon succeeded Goh Keng Swee as Minister of Finance and served in that capacity for 13 years until 1983. In 1982, Hon was named the Economic Minister of the Year by the Euromoney magazine.

As Chairman of the EDB , Hon played a key role in the implementation of Singapore's industrialization strategy, with the Jurong Industrial Estate as the first major project. Sited on swamplands in the west of Singapore, the JIE soon became the centrepiece of an industrialization program that stretched from garments and toys to petrochemicals and electronics. The first factory in Jurong, the National Iron and Steel Mill, was opened on August 2, 1963. By 1968, there were about 300 factories employing 21,000 people in Jurong. In conjunction with the development of the industrial estate, satellite towns were built in the west of Singapore, transforming the Jurong area into a centre of both industrial and residential development.

During his time with DBS, Hon was a supporter of the establishment of the Asian dollar market and thus played a key role in the development of Singapore's financial services industry.

Subsequently as Finance Minister, he established the Bases Economic Conversion Department to oversee the conversion and commercialization of lands and facilities that had been left behind by the British military following their withdrawal in 1968. Hon also played a major role in the development of Singapore's tourism industry, beginning with the transformation of Pulau Blakang Mati, a previously fortified island off the southern coast of Singapore, into a resort destination under the new appellation of Sentosa Island.

He died in office as Minister of Finance on October 14, 1983, leaving behind his beloved wife, Annie Hon, and his four daughters ; Joan , Elizabeth, Vivien, and Brenda.

The National University of Singapore's Business library is named after him. His office is also preserved within the library.

Ho Yeow Sun, better known as Sun Ho, is a Singaporean pop music singer. Ho is married to Reverend Kong Hee and co-founded the City Harvest Church and its community services. Sun started her Mandarin pop singing career in 2002 and subsequently worked with producers and performers such as Wyclef Jean, Diane Warren, The Underdogs, David Foster and Carole Bayer Sager. Ho had a rocky start to her pop artist career; She faced with accusations that her dressing was deemed to be inappropriate for her religious background, and rumors of her using her church's support to aid in album sales. To prevent further controversy, she decided to develop her career outside of Singapore, focusing on China, Taiwan and the US.

From 2002 to 2007, Ho released a succession of five Mandarin pop albums that have either reached double or triple platinum status. During this five-year period, Ho worked with composers such as Ma Yufen , the late Ma Zhaojun , F.I.R., Milk, Arys Chien , Lee Wei Song and Tan Han Jin . “Lonely Travel” was ranked #1 on nine top music charts. Her next album “Gain” released in 2006 reached #1 position on 10 top music charts. Her song, “''Starting Point''” was used as theme song for Singapore TV series “''Turning Point''” based on real-life inspirational stories, of which Ho was the host.

From 2003 to 2006, Ho’s first five English-language releases reached the top of the dance club charts of Billboard Magazine and London-based Music Week, making her the first Asian artist to score successive No. 1 dance hits.

In 2003, Ho broke into Hollywood with her debut American single “''Where Did Love Go'',” produced by David Foster and Peter Rafelson. The song reached #1 on the Billboard’s Hot Dance Club Play “Breakout” Chart in December 2003. Subsequently, three of her singles, “''One With You'',” “''Without Love''” and “''Gone''” reached #1 positions on the Billboard Dance Chart. “''Ends Of The Earth''” also joined the abovementioned three singles to reach #1 positions on the UK MusicWeek Chart. Since 2003, Ho has worked with a number of musicians such as Jimmy Harry, Diane Warren, Tony Moran, Chris Cox, Eric Kupper, Jason Nevins, Moto Blanco and the Underdogs.

Ho became the first Asian pop singer to be invited to the Hollywood Film Festival in 2003. The following year, Ho became the only Chinese singer to be invited to the 46th Annual Grammy Awards 2004 Wyclef was also co-writer and executive producer of Ho’s English album, due for release in 2009. She also performed “''China Wine''” with Wyclef at the SonyBMG Europe Music Awards After Party.

Songwriter Diane Warren also composed the song “''因為有你 ''” for Sun’s “Embrace” album.

Ho recorded a song for Olivia Newton John’s benefit CD produced by Amy Sky, “Songs of Hope and Inspiration: Olivia and Friends”.

For the 2008 Beijing Olympics, Ho worked together with music composer David Foster & Carole Bayer Sager to submit a song composition titled “''The Light''.”

In May 2008, Ho was invited to perform ‘live’ at the Vienna City Hall where Europe's biggest AIDS-charity event—the 16th Life Ball was held. Ho was dressed by NYC designers The Blonds .

Humanitarian work

Ho holds an M.A. degree in Counseling and worked as a counselor for troubled teens from 1996 to 2001 at City Harvest Community Services
, a social organization which she has personally founded Having gone through a difficult childhood, Ho has stated that she was motivated to help others out of their similar struggles with depression. Since establishing her career as a pop artist in April 2002, she continues to be involved in raising funds for various charitable organisations.
In 2002, the Junior Chamber of Singapore awarded Ho with “The Outstanding Young Person Award.”

Ho has donated money from her royalties to build schools in Chongqing, Guizhou and Henan . She also sponsored a computer lab for the school in Liaoning, China. Her most recent project took her to Henan Province where her donation of RMB350,000 paid for the rebuilding of a rundown school and its teaching facilities.

In June 2007, Ho was appointed the Music Ambassador for the 2008 Beijing Olympics Songfest by the Beijing Organizing Committee for the Games of the XXIX Olympiad .

In August 2007, Ho was named the Charity Ambassador of Love for Asia’s first Special Olympic World Summer Games. At the Special Olympics Charity Gala held on August 11, 2007, Ho auctioned off two personal items to raise RMB600,000 for the Special Olympic Games. Together with Sun Nan, she also performed the Special Olympic official theme song “We Are Together.”

In February 2008, Ho sang the inaugural Mandarin rendition of the 100-year old Olympic Hymn at the opening of the “Olympic Philately & Cultural Tour” launched by The Beijing Olympics. Held at the Royal Theatre within the Forbidden City, Ho was accompanied by a choir of overseas Chinese from 16 different nationalities.

2008 Sichuan earthquake

In May 2008, Ho gave 500 tents to aid as temporary shelter for displaced families of the earthquake in Sichuan, China. Along with her personal donation, Ho also gathered some friends to raise RMB650,000 to buy stationery and educational supplies for the children.

Ho performed on CCTV’s charity program as part of the “Rebuilding The Homeland With One Heart” project to help the quake victims. Other activities of the project include inviting Sichuan artists to Singapore to hold an art exhibition which will showcase the courage of the quake survivors, as well as setting up an education and music foundation for the orphans and other victims of the earthquake.

Other Endeavours

In July 2005, Ho opened a streetwear boutique, SKIN Couture, at The Marina Square , which carries apparels and accessories from American labels such as True Religion, Antik Denim, Bejeweled, etc. Ho and her SKIN partners acquired exclusive distribution for Ed Hardy in Singapore, and opened its first flagship store in Asia at The Heeren Shops on October 29, 2005.
:From April to July 2007, Sun performed in 4 concerts throughout Asia to a total audience of more than 13,000.

*“Gain 2006” Concert
:On July 16, 2006, Ho performed in a one-night concert held at the National Taipei University Stadium to an audience of close to 10,000 people.

*KTU “Beatstock” Concert
:On August 21, 2005, Ho opened the second day of the Beatstock Dance Festival, organized by KTU, a top radio station in New York, with a listener-ship of over two million. Ho was the only Asian artist invited to perform at this event which saw over 16,000 people partied over a two-day period.

*“Lonely Travel 2003/2004” Concert
:From October 2003 to May 2004, Ho has performed in 80 concerts throughout Asia to a total audience of more than 280,000.

*“Sun With Love 2002” Concert
:Ho performed 30 concerts in Asia from April 2002 to December 2002 to a total audience of 118,000. At the two-night “Sun With Love” concert in the Singapore Indoor Stadium, she sang to more than 21,000 fans.

Television performances and broadcasts

Archbishop Yong was born into a Hakka family in , and received his education in St. George's Institution and St. Michael's Institution in Ipoh, Malaya. He was an exceptional boy, and liked to role-play as a priest and pretend to hold Mass in his games.

In January 1941, he entered the Minor Seminary and in 1944 graduated to the Major Seminary. He was officially in 1951 and posted to the Church of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Singapore. In 1953, he left for studies in Rome where he was conferred a Doctorate in Canon Law, the very first local priest to achieve the distinction. Back in Singapore in 1956, he was sent as assistant Parish Priest to the Church of the Sacred Heart. In the following year, he joined the teaching stuff of the Minor Seminary. After a short stint as assistant Parish Priest at the Church of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, he was appointed to a teaching position in the Major Seminary, again, the very first local priest to be thus honoured. On July 1, 1968, he was consecrated Bishop, and took over the from Bishop Francis Chan who had died on October 27, 1967.

On February 3, 1977, he was appointed to succeed Archbishop Michel Ol?omendy as the first of the local clergy to lead the Church in Singapore. On April 2, 1977, he was officially installed as the Roman Catholic Archbishop of Singapore. He was the second Archbishop of the Archdiocese of Singapore, which was formed in 1972 when the Archdiocese of Malacca-Singapore split and held the office until retiring on October 14, 2000.

It was also poor health that prompted his retirement, as he had a heart attack and had to be admitted to Mount Elizabeth Hospital for a heart bypass surgery in June that year. Archbishop Yong's last public appearance was in May 2004, when Yong was summoned as a prosecution witness in the trial of Catholic priest Joachim Kang, who was convicted and jailed for misappropriation of S$5.1 million in church funds. In spite of his poor health, he made light of his ailment when the prosecutor asked if he needed a break. 'I'm okay and can carry on,' he replied, and then asked the judge if she was all right too, sparking laughter in the solemn courtroom.

Fiona Yuen was born in January 20, 1976 in Cologne, Germany.
She went to Hong Kong and took part in the 1996 Miss Hong Kong Pageant, where she was second runner-up and won the Miss International Goodwill award. She can speak , , and fluently.
She is currently under TVB, a local Hong Kong television station, as a regular actress and program presenter.

Feng Yunshan was an important leader during the Taiping Rebellion against the Qing government 1850–1864. Feng was a companion of Hong Xiuquan from the very earliest days of the rebellion. Feng was the founder of the "God Worshipers" during the 1840s. This was the very first form the Taiping Rebellion took. He was one of the first Taipings to be baptised and Hong publicly announced how Feng was a deep friend of his.

Feng assembled thousands of believers in Guangxi during the time Hong spent in in 1847, founding the base of the Taiping Rebellion. Feng was later announced as the "South King" of the Taiping Rebellion.

On May 24 1852 as the Taiping marched by Quanzhou with no intention of invading, a Qing gunner fatally wounded Feng as he sat in his sedan chair. Rallied by the news, the Taiping surrounded Quanzhou and in the space of 2 days breached the walls and killed every citizen who had not fled. Feng finally succumbed to his wounds in June that year.

Fan Hanjie , courtesy name Jie-Ying, born in Dabu, Guangdong Province. During the Liaoshen Campaign he served as the deputy commander-in-chief of Manchuria and director of the command center in Jinzhou with the rank of lieutenant general in the National Revolutionary Army. Fan Hanjie spent his youth at Zili College which his father helped to found, in 1911 and was admitted to Guangdong Army Institute, majoring in astronomical classes; in 1913 after graduating he joined the army service in the Guangdong Section, as an officer of the survey bureau, in Dongjiang and the Chaoshan area. In 1920 he was transferred to the Department of Guangdong and Guangxi provinces, fighting local pirates and repress smuggling activities, and then he was promoted to the rank of captain on the Jiangping warship. In 1923 he was again transferred to the Department of the General Staff, and promoted to the rank of colonel. In May 1924, the Whampoa Military Academy was founded in Canton, When Fan Hanjie was almost 30 years of age, and he was hesitated to enroll first, due to his relatively old age, most student cadets were in their early twenties. Because the successful outcome of the first KMT-CPC cooperation, Fan Hanjie had high hopes for the national revolution and he took the entrance exams and was easily admitted, is the only student who held the rank of colonel in the entire academy. After graduation from the academy, Fan Hanjie like other graduates, starting from the scratch, in the army platoon, company, battalion duties to participate in the suppression of Chen Jiongming's revolt against the Nationalist government during second eastern campaign. In the summer 1926, the National Revolutionary Army launched the Northern Expedition, and was Fan's first actual combat experience; he has been selected as commander of the 10th Regiment of the 29th Division, and was one of first regiment commanders from the Whampoa academy. Fan led the troops to participate in the famous battle at the Ting Kau Bridge. In October the same year he was promoted to first deputy commander of 10th division. November 1927, during the KMT- CCP split, Chen mingshu, commander of the 1st Army, and 10th Division Commander Jiang Guang Nai defected to Chiang Kai-shek; Fan Hanjie also will be leaving to go to Nanjing. By Chiang Kai-sheik's orders , he was sent to the Zhejiang province as the garrison commander, as a Whampoa graduate of first class, and in August, Chiang Kai-shek stepped down, Zhejiang Guard division was abolished and Fan Hanjie was transferred to the NRA General Headquarters of the 8th Route Army . Soon Chiang Kai-shek came back to power, and send Fan Hanjie to Japan to study the political and military affairs then he went to Germany, and studied in German military training school until the outbreak of Manchurian incident on September 18, 1931. In March 1945, he was formally promoted to rank of lieutenant general. On May 6 he was elected as a member of the KMT central committee, he became a confidant of Chiang Kai-shek and one of his favorite generals. In July 1948, he followed the Chiang's orders to reorganized two new armies, the 5th army and the 8th army to bolster Nationalist position in Manchuria. In September Fan was appointed as the deputy commander-in-chief of Manchuria and director of the Jinzhou forward command. because General Wei Lihuang refused to concentrate the majority of the nationalist forces in Jinzhou, unable to disobey the orders of his superior officer, Fan fought as hard as he could, but he was outmaneuvered by the communist forces led by Lin Biao, who used massed artillery to achieve a breakthrough into the city defense, on October 15, 1948, Jinzhou had fallen and Fan was captured by the communist Manchurian Field Army.

After his release in 1962, he was elected as a member of the CCP national committee on historical data, and had written a "Jinzhou campaign memoir," and in 1964 he was elected as the fourth member of the Standing Committee of the political consultative conference. On January 16, 1976 he died in Beijing, at age 80.

Eric Moo Kai Yin is an award winning singer, composer and producer. An ethnic Hakka, his mother died when he was 8, and he was looked after by his elder sister. He is also a permanent resident of Singapore.

His secondary school is one of the famous among the Chinese, the Chinese High School.

Eric started his music career at the age of 17. He started his first band "Subway Band" in high school and he began stage debut in 1983. Eric released his first album in 1984 and the album topped the Singapore's Pop charts. He subsequently launched his singing career in Taiwan. Eric has released over 40 albums and performed over 40 concerts in the past 20 years of his singing career.

Eric now resides in Taiwan with his Taiwanese wife. Since early 2006, Eric Moo has shifted his focus to the China market.

His latest concert is on 6th Oct 2007, at The MAX Pavilion@Singapore Expo.

Cantonese albums

Compilations/Live albums

Background

Kok is a member of the Hakka dialect group and her ancestors were from Huizhou, Guangdong Province, China. She speaks , and fluently. Kok is a devoted Catholic.

She earned her first degree from Universiti Sains Malaysia , graduating in the School of Communication, and; a second degree from University Malaya in political science, and a master of philosophy. Her thesis was on UMNO, titled "Factionalism in Umno During Dr Mahathir's Era ".

Politics

Kok was political secretary to Parliamentary Opposition Leader Lim Kit Siang from 1990 to 1995.
In 1995, she contested the Ipoh Barat Parliamentary seat on a DAP ticket but was defeated by the MCA candidate. Kok resigned as political secretary after that to further her studies.

In the 1999 General Elections, Kok won the Parliamentary seat of Seputeh in Kuala Lumpur with a majority of 5,200 and was re-elected in 2004 with a majority of 12,895, the largest winning margin among the 13 elected DAP MPs. In the , Kok retained her Parliamentary seat of Seputeh in Kuala Lumpur with a majority of 36,492, the largest majority in any constituency. In the new Selangor executive council, she was named senior executive councillor and put in charge of investment, trade and industry to ensure all fund are directed to all the Malaysians.

Teresa was reelected into Central Executive Committee of DAP during the party's National Congress in Kuala Lumpur. She is currently the DAP National Organising Secretary, prior to this position she was DAP Publicity Secretary. She is also the National Secretary of DAP Wanita and a member of the DAP Disciplinary Committee. In Parliament, she was a member of the on Review of Penal Code and Criminal Procedure Code.

Kok is the Secretary of the ASEAN Inter-Parliamentary Myanmar Caucus . She was an active lobbyist for Burmese democracy and human rights since 1996 when she was the Coordinator of Political Leaders Network Promoting Democracy in Burma in Southeast Asian region.

Detention under ISA

Teresa Kok was arrested near OUG Heights at on Friday September 12 2008 under Section 73 of the . Under the act, the police have no obligation to disclose the alleged offense if any at all.

Prior to her arrest, the Malay daily Utusan Malaysia and its columnist for an article had claimed that Teresa Kok had "advised" a mosque in Puchong not to use loudspeakers while making the azan or the Islamic calls to prayer. Teresa Kok had issued a denial against the allegation. The Selangor state government was giving all parties involved in making the claim a week to issue a retraction and apology.

It was found out later that a faulty loudspeaker system was the reason why the mosque did not broadcast the azan. Furthermore, while there was a petition sent to the mosque, the petition requested for the mosque to lower the volume during 'ceramah' or sermons and not during azan. The administrator of the mosque as well as the petitioners also confirmed that Kok was not involved in the petition.

Member of Parliament for Kota Raja, Dr Siti Mariah Mahmood of lodged a police report against a blog website called Pembela Melayu, Selangor Opposition Leader Mohd Khir Toyo for defaming Kok by alleging that Kok had supported a petition by the Chinese in Kinrara against the azan in their area. The website also alleged that Seri Serdang assemblyman Satim Diman had raised the issue at the state assembly but did not get a response.

She was released on 19 September 2008 at 1.30pm after from a seven-day detention under the Internal Security Act . She has claimed that she was made scapegoat in the move to contain the outrage over the alleged racist remarks. "I see my detention as a ploy by Umno to try to cover up the embarassment and the outrage over the racist statements made by Ahmad Ismail in Penang," she told a press conference shortly after her release at the DAP headquarters. "I wonder why they chose an innocent person like me as I have never made any racist remarks or racist speeches in the past," she said, adding that she has instructed her lawyer to sue the government for her unlawful arrest and detention. She also urged police to investigate her report lodged against Utusan Malaysia, columnist Zaini Hassan and former Selangor Mentri Besar Datuk Seri Dr Mohd Khir Toyo under the Penal Code.

Food controversy

Immediately after her release, she was embroiled in a controversy in which she claimed the quality of food served to her during her incarceration was so bad that it was similar to dog food. Utusan Malaysia reported her statement. Kok claimed Utusan was manipulating her words, denied making that statement and instead insisted that she had said that the food was only slightly better than dog food. She later admitted to making contradictory statements.

Her complaint caused the government to investigate the quality of food served to detainees in Malaysian police lock-ups.

Threats

On September 27th 2008, two Molotov cocktails were thrown into the family home of Seputeh MP Teresa Kok in Taman Rainbow, Jalan Ipoh. A warning letter containing threatening words and vulgarities was also attached to a bottle left outside the house. At the time, Teresa’s parents and her siblings were in the house, none was hurt in the incident.

Lawsuit Against Utusan

Teresa Kok has filed a RM30mil suit against Utusan Melayu Sdn Bhd and the paper’s columnist Zaini Hassan over an article that allegedly defamed her. She claims the article portrayed her as a racist, a religious bigot, an untrustworthy person and a chauvinistic politician who was against Islam.

Controversy

Hill slope development allegation

's journalist and columnist R. Nadeswaran and Terence Fernandez alleged that Teresa Kok and Ronnie Liu were organizing a meeting between Real Estate and Housing Developers Association and the Selangor Chief Minister Khalid Ibrahim to lobby a repeal of a moratorium on hill slope development in Selangor. Kok denied the allegation and stated that it was only a meeting.

Book

In 2004, Kok published a book compiling articles she wrote for the then Chinese daily Sin Chew Jit Poh. She continues to write a weekly column for the Chinese daily Sin Chew.

Election results

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Teng Yu-hsien was a Taiwanese Hakka musician. He is noted for composing many well-known Hokkien songs. Teng named himself a Japanese-style pen-name as Karasaki Yosame and a formal name called Higashida Gyōu .

Biography

Teng Yu-hsien was born in , Taoyuan of Japanese-ruled Taiwan. He migrated to the with his family when he was 3-year-old. In 1914, Teng joined Bangka Public School . He graduated in 1920, and subsequently entered the Taipei Normal School . In 1925, Teng graduated from Taipei Normal School, and became a teacher of the Rixin Public School . After he married Chung You-mei in 1926, he departed from teaching job and went to Japan to study composition theory in the Tokyo Music Academy.

Teng return to Taiwan in 1930, then served as a translator in Taichung District Court. In 1932, he was invited by Wen-sheng disc to compose the ''March of the Daitotei'' , a Japanese popular song which was failed to come down until be rediscovered by a collector in 2007. Then he began to be interested by the , an early disc company in Taiwan, and entered this company by inviting of Chen Chun-yu, a songwriter that served as an officer of the Columbia Records. In 1933, Teng composed several well-known hokkien songs such as ''Bang Chhun Hong'' and ''Goat Ia Chhiu'' .

He made a representative work ''U Ia Hoe'' in 1934, a song that depicts the mood of a fictional pathetic woman. Between 1934 and 1937, Teng composed many other songs include the ''Moa Bin Chhun Hong'' and ''Su Kui Hong'' . After the World War II occurred in 1937, the Japanese government began to reinforce the influence of Japanese culture, thus suppressed the development of the Taiwanese Hokkien songs. Many of songs that composed by Teng were banned, and some were rewritten into Japanese language.

In 1939, the Pacific War became much more heavily, thus Teng resigned from his job and evacuated to of with his family, then served as a teacher in the Cyonglin Public School . His health situation was gradually turned down at that time, but he still composed some Japanese songs. At that time, Teng named himself two Japanese names Karasaki Yosame and Higashida Gyōu. In June 11, 1944, he died from lung disease and at , Hsinchu.

Tam Yiu Chung, , , is the member of the of Hong Kong . He was a member of the Executive Council from 1997 to 2002. He is a member of the Democratic Alliance for Betterment of Hong Kong . He was the acting chairman of DAB from August 9 to August 29, 2007, after the passing of Ma Lik. On August 29, he was voted as the chairman of DAB.